Nationals Going Down With the Liberal Titanic?

Nationals Going Down With the Liberal Titanic?
Recently we have witnessed National Party members of the government forcing a banking enquiry on the Liberals and the deputy premier of NSW calling for Malcolm Turnbulls resignation. What has caused this surprising burst of courage from a party that is noted for its crawling and grovelling to the liberals? My friends, it’s not courage driving this but political survival. The results of the Queensland election have brought it home to the Nationals that they are facing political oblivion.

At last the shooting movement in Queensland has become organised with the formation of the Shooters Union, an umbrella body that covers most disciplines. They are well run and financed and are affiliated with the NRA. Check out their web site and join. Become active politically and support pro shooting candidates at the next Federal Election. Some readers may wonder why, after 21 years, shooters are still dedicated to the downfall of the National Party. I’ll explain. Our fathers and grandfathers used automatic weapons in the second World War. The Bren, Thompson and the Owen Gun. In Vietnam the National Servicemen were given the SLR (semiauto), the M60 (machine gun) and the M16 (semiauto) and sent to kill people they did not even know. They were trusted with those weapons. Then came Port Arthur. Suddenly these patriots became criminals overnight and couldn’t be trusted with a .22 semi auto. They were vilified by the like of Howard, Fisher, Boswell, Cooper and Borbidge, put on Crim Trak and have to suffer Police inspections.

We will never forget or forgive. Some of the National members now realise that if they stay on the Liberal Titanic it will take them down when it hits the electoral iceberg. They are now thinking about scrambling into the life boats and saving what is left of the party. If this comes to pass they will want to rebuild what is left of the party. They will have plenty of time because they will have years in opposition (think Labor and the DLP). If the Nationals are to have any chance of rebuilding, they must reconcile with the shooters. It will take a lot of courage and humility, traits that are not common in the National Party.

The first step in that reconciliation must be a genuine, heartfelt apology from all members and the national executive to the shooters they have maligned. It would need to be followed up by some genuine empirical action. If the Labor Party thinks it can take comfort from the tribulations of the Nats, I would remind them that the bulk of Australian Shooters are workers and the seat that One Nation won in Queensland was from Labor, by a shooter.